The Dominion. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1909. THE UNIVERSITY'S PRODUCTS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 611, 14 September 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1909. THE UNIVERSITY'S PRODUCTS.

In the course of a' lecture in Sydnoy last week Me. Q.- H.> Ri;id, the, wellknown lawyer and politician, had some interesting things to. say upon the valiio of University study as a preparation for life. The stock argument of the "practical" man, that one hearß very little in daily life of "the brilliant young fellows who win University distinctions," is usually made the parent of the assumption that University training, has no relation to. the. realities of life, and that ability to win. Univorsity honours means nothing, more than the possession of a special ingenuity as useless in the battle of life as the ingonuity of the'conjurer or the chess-player. Mr. Heid, however, qxplains the, dearth of University men amongst the loading man of Australasia.

by the kindlier theory that many of the brilliant men break down "tho physical bases of their minds" by too intenso study. This ia a doctrine, we fear, that has little justification in fact, either in Australasia or in older lands. Whatever may be true of Univorsity men in Australasia is not true of their fellows in Britain. The majority of the men who tho destiny of England in their keeping are most certainly University men, and the Universities are there looked to by everybody as the trainingschools of the nation's leaders. That matters aro otherwise in New Zealand ia due mainly to the newness of this, country and to its social conditions, but few people will deny that the New Zealand University must itself be in a slight measuro for .the meagrencss of its representation amongst the leading men of the nation. 1

The Now Zealand University Calendar contains each year a full list of those graduates who ha/ve gained honours in Arts; since 1877, and an attempt is made to keep a record of tho addresses and occupations of those who hold first-class honours. No attempt is made,- for what reason we do not know, to keep similar records in the case of the -Masters of Arts who hold second-class and third-class aonoufs, who of course far outnumber the fiistclass honours-holders. From the sheets: now going through the press for the forthcoming issue of the Calendar" wo find that just'under ISO graduates have taken first-class honours since 1877. Of these 139 are still living. Twenty-three are women arid 116 are men. The record of their addresses'and occupations is far from complete, as in only 91 cases is the information supplied. Of the 91, 28 are engaged as teachers at primary schools, district high 1 schools, ' and secondary schools. Twenty-one are professors or lecturers at University Colleges.. Next in popularity is the Church, which has found thirteen recruits in the graduates, under notice, while the Law, with eleven, comes next.Four. are doctors, four are engineers, and three are Inspectors of Schools. Of the, four remaining, one is a merchant, one a magistrate in the'lndian Civil Service, one a -Lecturer on Thcpsophy, and orio a journalist. "There is little doubt that : the, holders of first;class and ( second-class honours are somewhat similarly distributed, and the, holders of tie inforior degree are probably mainly to be found m the teaching profession,'in tiie Church, and in the Law. The chief matters, for,surprise;are,, first, that our most (distinguished, graduates seem to find no attraction in public life, and, second, Ithat journalism should be almost completely .neglected .by them. • The standard'of University, honours is admittedly .high in ,'this country., ' The man,who takes'a first;class in Languages , and Literature' must necessarily have .got to the heart of.his matter; thero are some really sound scientists amongst the honoursmen in physical science; the honours papers in mathematics and mathematical- physics are not less difficult, and not much narrower in scope, than the papers set before the candidates, at the Tripos examinations at Cambridge. But. only one-New, Zealand graduate lias achieved indisputable' eminence in the world. We refer, of course, to, Ernest ' Rutherford; one of our'greatest living, physicists. The Solicitor-General,- Mr.; Fitchett, is the only: first-class honMrsnian'.in 'the . list quoted from who', holds' 1 a public position. Although tho Univorsity,:llasmottseen her ; in the'high places of.public . tiee, .-she can -claim that she is exercis- .

no small influence in tho-develop-ment of She furnishes good labourers in the cause of science and education,'and slie supplies a steady stream of:cultivated men to the nourishment of .the Church; When account ,is had of the difficulties.'against which she has to"'con? tend —of the '.absence of a .leisured class such as exists in Britain, 'of the presence of such social conditions as leave - little opening for her children to devote themselves to public life, of the unkindly climate, in short, in which the plants which she rear's must struggle for existence—it must be allowed that her record is one of -which she has no cause to be ashamed. ■